There Must Be Something More

27 | Countdown

"Where have you been?" Calum slammed my locker door shut even before I could do it myself.

I sighed. I didn't look at him. I stuffed my things in my backpack. "None of your business, Mom."

"Ha," he snapped. "You missed practice."

"Big deal," I muttered, "I've missed practices all the time."

"Yeah, but not without consent!"

I stared at him. "What is it to you, Calum? I can do whatever I want. Get off my back."

He raised his hands in surrender. He approached my other side. "Look, man, I know this might just be a phase--"

"Well, it's not a phase, alright?"

He stared at me. I waited for the words to sink in.

It didn't.

Instead he yanked my collar and pulled my face up to his. "Dude, what in the world is going on with you? You're being crazy! What, are you gonna run around and be all religious and all that lame stuff now? You gonna be a softy?"

I frowned and jerked away. "Have you ever thought about... what if Meredith is right, Cal? What if there's something more? There must be something more to this life we are in right now. Have you ever felt like you've done just about everything and still feel empty inside?"

Calum glared at me. His eyes said he didn't get my point. "More to this life?" He cried, "You mean more than high school? More than baseball? More than popularity?"

He emphasized his voice on that last line. He thought it was going to give me second thoughts.

Of course he didn't.

"Yes," I said. I gave him one last neutral stare and walked past him. He must have glared at me from behind, I felt his eyes on me as I turned to another hallway.

A feeling in me indicated I wanted to turn back and apologize and lie, telling my best friend I was just going through a phase. I didn't want to waste all the years we had together. I didn't want to lose the people I've had growing up.

But I knew the truth now. It wasn't about how long a person's been with you--it was about how much a person cares about you. How much they love you. And I am not kidding when I say Meredith and her grandpa care more about me than my own family and friends did.

As I shifted in-between different shrugs and shoulders, I saw Meredith handing in her sticky notes. I quickly trotted beside her.

She smiled and handed me a purple one. It said: Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. ~John 14:6

"Good morning," I told her.

She grinned. "Good morning. You're pretty energetic today. Ran through the crowd like the world's ending."

"Just glad to see you," I said.

"I'm glad to see you too."

~~~

The cafeteria hall buzzed with the same voices it's been resonating from the first day. I scanned from circular tables, seeing the same old faces in the same old groups I've identified.

Nothing is ever new to these people, I thought, I bet they're bored. They're just not making it obvious.

And my vision tunneled to Meredith alone on one table. She held her sandwich in front of her. She was smiling as if she didn't have a care in the world, when she's actually the exact opposite. She really cares for other people. She seemed to be having a good time, in spite of the sea of other people in different moods around her.

Come on, just approach her, I said to myself.

I spotted Calum and Amanda on our usual table. If I walked over to Meredith now, I was sure they'd see me. They'd see me and start talking, trying to make it as something malicious.

I debated for a long time at the edge of the cafeteria entrance. My foot kept trying to back out and step in, indecisive as to whether to run and just eat by myself or come and approach Meredith without a care in the world.

My food was getting cold. People started to stare. I still wasn't moving much in my place. Sweat rolled down my cheek.

Hurry! My conscience started to say. Meredith will leave in a few moments and you still haven't decided on what to do!

And right there, for the very first time, I breathed a silent prayer.

What should I do, God?

And almost, as if suddenly, a still small voice said, Do the right thing.

I knew the right thing. I knew I had to go across the cafeteria and show the world I was just as different as Meredith. That I knew God was as real as all of us. That God isn't some kind of religion.

He is truth.

Here goes nothing, I thought.

I felt as if the footsteps were ringing in my ears like a distant drumroll. With each step I felt, I felt pressure like something from an end of the year countdown.

It was because I knew I was going to welcome something new in my life.

Meredith saw me on my way and looked just as surprised as I am. When I sat beside her, she stared at me stiffly.

"You're here!" She said, half smiling. She looked too confused.

"Yeah," I said, feeling my heartbeat slow to normal.

"Your friends are staring, you know."

"Let them. I don't... I don't care anymore."

She smiled.

I smiled too. "I know the truth now."

~~~

The guys threw me dirty looks the whole practice. Obviously the word hadn't spread to Coach Anderson; he was the only one who didn't treat me any differently than he had before.

It was uncomfortable. But I endured all of it. I kept the verse I received from Meredith in mind--Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Which means He's the only one I should choose. I shouldn't bother about what anyone else would think.

It sure wasn't easy.

After practice, no one bothered to congratulate me even as I hit the ball perfectly and made a home run. They clapped, but probably just for the sake of the goal.

Before I left our lockers, Coach Anderson said someone waited for me in the hall. I assumed it was Meredith. I smiled and hurried outside.

But the person I saw was someone I never expected.

It was Samuel Johns, the school president.

"Dude, can I talk to you?" He asked.

And I just knew I had more new things to welcome in my life.